Congo rebels withdraw from eastern town

July 09, 2012|Reuters

* Rebels warn army not to return to lost positions

* United Nations says provincial capital safe

* Goma residents protest against rebels, shops close

By Kenny Katombe

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, July 9 (Reuters) -R ebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo withdrew from astrategic town in the mineral-rich province of North Kivu onMonday, a day after taking it from government forces without afight, a rebel spokesman and the United Nations said.

The so-called M23 rebel force entered the town of Rutshuruunopposed on Sunday after witnesses said government soldiersabandoned their positions. The rebels later moved into theadjoining town of Kiwanja.

"We are now back in our old bases. We have left the policeand (the U.N.) there for the protection of the population,"M23's Colonel Vianney Kazarama told Reuters.

Congo's U.N. peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, said M23fighters had pulled out of Rutshuru and Kiwanja as well as thevillage of Rubare, also taken by the rebels on Sunday.

An M23 statement on Monday warned the army against returningto the towns, saying any attempt to do so would be "immediatelyand energetically repressed" by the rebels.

The M23 insurgents, dominated by Congolese Tutsis, taketheir name from a March 2009 peace deal that ended a previousrebellion in North Kivu and led to their integration into thenational army. They deserted the government ranks earlier thisyear, accusing the government of not respecting the agreement.

Like the 2004-2009 rebellion, the current mutiny has itsroots in ethnic and political wounds dating back to Rwanda's1994 genocide. Later invasions of Congo by Rwandan forces andKigali's backing of Congolese rebels fuelled two successive warsthat killed several million people.

The recent gains for the rebel movement in North Kivuprovince risk dragging the vast, loosely governed centralAfrican state back into war.

They also threaten to further damage relations with Rwanda,which has denied allegations by Congolese authorities and apanel of U.N. investigators that it is supporting the rebels.

PROTEST IN GOMA

The capture of Rutshuru, days after M23 fighters seized themineral transit town of Bunagana, had raised fears of an advanceon Goma, the provincial capital 70 km (40 miles) to the south.

The rebels, then known as the CNDP, took Rutshuru in 2008,paving the way for a southward push that eventually forced thegovernment in Kinshasa to negotiate the 2009 deal that led totheir integration into the army.

A U.N. source said on Sunday MONUSCO was looking to use itsreserves to protect Goma, but a spokesman for the peacekeepingmission said the city was not under threat.

"As far as threatened militarily, not at this time," AlexEssome told Reuters on Monday.

A Reuters reporter in Goma said several hundred residentstook to the streets on Monday to protest against the rebels andsome went to the regional army headquarters to demand arms andtraining to fight. Local shops and markets closed.

Anti-Tutsi mobs roamed the streets, demanding arms, whilepolice had to escort some Rwandan students across the border.

The movement's leaders have said their aim is not to gainterritory but to push the government towards negotiations. Therebels offered to halt their advance on Saturday if Kinshasaopened talks with them.

"We have demonstrated our capacity ... It's now the turn ofthe government to react and give their position," Kazarama said.

Congo's Defence Ministry, in a memo seen by Reuters onSunday, called for renewed operations to arrest senior M23figures including Makenga and General Bosco Ntaganda, who iswanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged warcrimes.

The Congolese government's acting spokesman said M23'srecent successes were further proof of external support.

"We've seen a sudden and major increase in the fire powerand forces of the mutineers," Tryphon Kin Kiey told Reuters.

"These facts corroborate the support from the neigbouringcountry, largely documented by the U.N., from which themutineers are benefiting," he said.